Sunday, August 20 2017 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
BEIJING - Chinese insurance giant Ping An is launching a US$1 billion global fund to invest in financial and healthcare tech. Jonathan Larsen, a veteran of Citigroup, will head the fund – dubbed Global Voyager – as Ping An’s chief innovation officer.
BEIJING - The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has given a green light to its first loan to India, granting US$160 million to a power project endorsed by New Delhi. The funds will be used to strengthen the power transmission and distribution system in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, which is part of the Indian government’s Power for All program, the AIIB said in a statement.
HONG KONG – the Hong Kong Stock Exchange plans to introduce physically settled CNH (offshore Renminbi, or RMB) and US dollar (US$) Gold Futures contracts in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approval.
SYDNEY - Australian Vintage Limited (AVL), parent company of wine brands Tempus Two, McGuigan and Nepenthe, today signed an agreement with Vintage China Fund L.P., a new partnership established by the founders of China’s largest online wine retailer, YesMyWine.
MANILA - The Duterte Administration has put the first package of tax reforms at the top of its priority list in the Congress, but despite the reduction in personal income tax rates being taken positively, necessary reforms to offset foregone revenue have been holding up Congressional debates.
WASHINGTON—With data is the lifeblood of the modern global economy, 34 countries and counting have enacted unwarranted policy restrictions that make it more expensive and time consuming—if not illegal—to transfer data across national borders, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).
HONG KONG – Leighton Asia, part of the CIMIC Group, has been awarded a contract by the Hong Kong Government to build the East Kowloon Cultural Centre. Revenue to Leighton Asia, which is part of CIMIC Group construction company CPB Contractors, will be around AUD436 million.
HONG KONG - Supportive base effects aside, three defining features of Asia’s current export upcycle raise doubts over the sustainability of this cycle - or at least, its strength, says ANZ Bank. “We think that exports would lose their lustre in the second half of 2017,” the bank says.
HONG KONG - GDP data confirms that China’s economy is strengthening (6.9% growth year on year), marginally beating market expectations and last quarter’s growth rate (6.8%), says global asset manager Natixis. “Although growth in the tertiary sector retreated (16Q4: 8.3%; 17Q1: 7.7%), the contribution of final consumption to GDP increased again (16: 71%; 17Q1: 77%) in line with very strong consumer confidence (highest level since 2008),” it says.
NEW DELHI - India's steel production, which stood at 101.3 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2016-17, is expected to grow by 10-12% in 2017-18 and to more than double to 240 million tonnes (MT) by 2031, according to Sanak Mishra, Secretary-General of the Indian Steel Association.
SINGAPORE - S&P Global Ratings has affirmed its 'BBB' long-term and 'A-2' short-term sovereign credit ratings on the Philippines, and says the outlook is stable. It has also affirmed its 'axA/axA-2' ASEAN regional scale ratings. The transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment is unchanged at 'BBB+'.
HONG KONG - Mongolia's public finances remain weak despite the announcement of a structural reform and funding programme with the IMF, says ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which is affirming its ‘B-/B’rating on the country. S&P says fluctuations in global commodities markets continue to pressure
Mongolia's public finances and balance of payments.
MELBOURNE – The Australian Furniture Association (AFA) has signed an MoU with the Malaysian Furniture Council (MFC), the official representative body of Malaysian furniture industry.
PERTH – Dawine Listed, the ASX-listed wine distributor specialising in the China market, has signed an agreement with Tmall.com and WeChat store management provider Alea E-Commerce Co. Ltd (Alea), providing access to more than 400 million consumers in China. Dawine says the deal complements its own China portal.
BEIJING - Wealthy individuals who invested their savings with China Minsheng Bank have found themselves embroiled in an alleged RMB3 billion (US$436 million) fraud — the latest scandal to expose the lack of internal risk controls at financial institutions that could threaten confidence in the banking system, according to a Caixin report.
HONG KONG - ASEAN corporate health is sound thanks to low leverage and healthy revenue generation, despite heavy reliance on short-term funding and high interest rates, according to the latest Natixis ASEAN Corporate Monitor, which covers about 1,200 listed non-financial institutions in the region and compares them with a similar universe globally.